Spring cushioned article of footwear



r May 8, 1951 w. BENNER, JR ,Y 2,552,393

'SPRING CUSHIONED ARTICLE 0F FOOTWEAR Filed Feb. 23. 1949 INVENTOR.

VVV/lm 5mn er Jr? Patented May 8, 1951 SPRING CUSHIONED ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR William Benner, Jr., Park City, Mont.

Application February 23, 1949, Serial No. 77,811

1 Claim.

l This invention relates to footworn devices for assisting in the locomotion and/or exercising of the wearer during walking, running or jumping,

and more speciilcally to such devices which employ resilient cushioning means, which alternately store up and release energy, during locomotion of the wearer.

An important object of the invention is to provide a spring-cushioned article of footwear of this nature which is so constructed that there will be substantially no fatiguing of the wearer because, of and during use of the article of footwear.

Another important object is to provide such an article which resiliently supports the foot of the wearer off the ground the center of the area of resiliency being partly below the heel and partly below the sole just forwardly of the heel, thus bridging portions of the sole and heel, whereby the wearer is not apt to be thrown backwards while jumping, for example, while using two of the articles attached to his feet.

Still another important object is to provide a particularly strong article of this kind yet possessing great resiliency insofar as the spring portion is concerned. While the footwear is described as adapted for locomotion, such as in walking, running or jumping, it should be noted that it is also well adapted to cushion the descent of the wearer when he strikes the ground, feet lfirst, as in descents by way of a parachute.

A further object is to provide such an article of footwear, worn by players of games, at basketball, for example.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this disclosure, and in which drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan of the new article of footwear.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical longitudinal section thereof, including a lower plate portion.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of the bottom plate portion.

The new spring-cushioned article of footwear comprises an upper plate portion I0, a, lower plate portion I I and a coil spring l2.

From Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the upper plate portion III is elongate, having a forward end section I3, rearward section I 4, intermediate section I5. a substantially flat upper face I8 and a substantially fiat lower face I1 and the plate portion I0 is normally disposed substan-` tially horizontal. It may be provided with an opening I8 from face to face and disposed intermediate its ends, preferably at the section I5. a suitable number of strap slots I9 preferablyv at the section I4, a suitable number of depending strap eyes 20 preferably at the section I3 and secured to the lower face I 1, and a heel abutment 2| extending upwardly fromtheupper face I6 and disposed intermediate the sections I3 and I4 (as at the section I5 but nearer the section Il than the section I3). Preferably this abutment has a rear face 22 the vertical plane of which is normal to the face I6.

In Figs. 2 and 3, the lower plate portion II is shown as a substantially flat member but the extremities of its forward end section 25 and rearward end section 26 may be turned up slightly, as at 27. It has an intermediate section 28, an upper substantially flat face 29 and lower, substantially fiat face 30. From the lower face 30 may project caulks 3|. The portion I0 may be provided with an opening 32 in its intermediate portion. Normally, the portion II substantially parallels and is spaced below the portion I0 (mostly below the intermediate portion I5 of the latter) and, because it is preferably shorter and narrower than the portion I0, it maybe disposed within the vertical plane of the edges of the portion I0.

I prefer to construct the portions I 0 and II of structural steel, with the portion I0 substantially five-sixteenths inch thick and the portion II substantially one-quarter inch thick.

It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the elongated coil spring I2 has its longitudinal axis normally vertically disposed and that the convolutions forma helix with the width of the coil least at the bottom portion 35 thereof. In addition, the diameter of the material (preferably structural silicon steel) forming the coil spring is progressively less from the upper portion 36 to the lower or bottom portion 35 thereof. For example, the spring I2 may be constructed of a rod having a maximum diameter of substantially threeeighths inch (forming the first lowermost convolution 3l) and tapering uniformly to fiveeighths inch for the first uppermost convolution 38. Preferably the normal distance between any two adjacent convolutions is the sum of the diam'- eters of these said convolutions, divided by 2. The terminal convolutions 31 and 38 must be machined to provide at faces for attachment, as by welding, to the respective portions I0 and II. Preferably, fusion welding is provided, em-

attacca 3 ploying from a three-eighths inch to one-quarter inch conventional iillet weld.

It will be noted that the spring I2 is connected to the plate I so that it bridges the rearward and intermediate sections Il and I5, with the heel abutment 2| within the vertical plane of the spring I2. This places a. portion of the heel of the-wearer over the spring rather than the entire heel outwardly of that plane, since the forward edge of the heel is adapted to contact the face 22 of the abutment 2l. As a consequence, there is less possibility of the plate portion II! tipping accidently when the footwear is being worn, the plate portion I0 is less apt to be torn loose from the spring Il and there is less fatigue than if the spring were disposed substantially centrally of the ends of the plate portion I Il.

The plate portion II is wide and long enough, as is apparent in Figs. 2 and 3, to provide a complete covering and foundation for the bottom of the spring I2, and is, in effect, an auxiliary heel, rather than a mere device upon which to anchor the lowermost terminal convolution. Hence, the caulks 3|.

The weight of the entire assembly is negligible so that it does not interfere with locomotion.

In attaching the article of new footwear to a shoe for example, the wearer positions the front edge of his shoe heel against the face 22 of the abutment 2 I, thus placing his heel within a part of the .vertical plane of the spring I2 and may then detachably secure the article to his shoe as by a conventional buckled strap (not shown) extending through the slots I8 along the adjacent -face II and upwardly across the shoe upper at the instep, while another conventional buckled strap (not shown) maybe threaded through the eyed portions 26 extend acrossvthe kface I1 and thence upwardly and over the upper at the waist of the foot.

Various changes may .be made to the form of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the claim.

Whatis claimed is:

In a spring-cushioned article of footwear a normally substantially horizontally-disposed upper plate portion, a lower plate portion spaced below and normally substantially parallellng the upper plate portion, and an expansion coil spring, having a normally vertical longitudinal axis, joined to said plate portions, the material forming the convolutions of said spring being progressivelyof less diameter from the top to the bottom of said spring.

WILLIAM BKNNER, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATESl PATENTS Date n France May 2, 1 922 

